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We have a comprehensive framework
of environmental, health and safety programmes that provide the
structure for our approach. This is based on EHS Standards that
apply, without exception, to all of our sites around the world.
Environmental sustainability is the basis of our
environmental programmes. After addressing the potential for adverse
impacts from our wastes, our approach to achieving sustainability
is to focus on improving the efficiency of our manufacturing processes
to minimise the materials used and waste generated, and then to
optimise the use of renewable raw materials.
Our occupational health and safety programmes focus
on protecting and enhancing the health and safety of our employees,
reflecting the value we place on people.
IMPROVEMENT TARGETS
Our EHS performance targets are set against baseline performance
in 2001, the first full year of GSK’s operations, and are to
be achieved by the end of 2005. For environmental emissions, company-wide
targets have been set by consolidating individual site targets.
Our health and safety target is to reduce lost time
injuries and illnesses by 15 per cent each year to 2005, from a
baseline rate in 2001 of 0.43 lost time injuries and illnesses for
each 100,000 hours worked. Preliminary data for 2002 indicate that
we will meet this target for the year. Final verified results will
be on our website, www.gsk.com.
Although many of the contractors on our sites do not
work under our direct supervision, their safety is as important
as that of our employees. We apply the same standards to them, and
monitor their health and safety. For external contractors working
for GSK, the lost time injury and illness rate was similar to the
rate for our own employees.
We improve our EHS performance by having strong EHS
management systems and programmes in place. Four examples are given
below.
 EHS
information for our products and processes
GSK has a comprehensive programme to characterise the physical and
chemical properties, environmental fate and effects, and occupational
health effects of our products and chemical processes. This information
helps us to:
- design and operate our production and control systems to protect
our employees and the communities in which we operate.
- inform our employees and the public about the hazards of materials
to help them understand how to handle them safely.
Contract manufacturers
GSK uses contract manufacturers in a number of countries to supply
certain products for local markets and, in a few cases, for specialist
processes or technologies. They are an integral part of the product
supply chain so we work with them to prevent adverse events and
ensure the reliability of product supply. To ensure that these companies
are managing EHS risks and impacts responsibly, conformance with
GSK requirements and legislation is assessed through a programme
of EHS audits conducted by our EHS Global Audit Team.
The audits cover general management of EHS and control
of key risks and impacts. Areas for improvement are highlighted
to the contract manufacturer and progress is monitored. In 2002,
16 key contract manufacturers/suppliers were assessed.
Ozone depletion and chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) elimination
– Metered dose inhalers (MDIs) are the most common way that
asthmatics receive their medication. However, many MDIs use as propellants
CFCs that are ozone depleting and global warming gases.
Currently GSK has an extensive plan containing over
10,000 milestones to eliminate CFCs from our MDIs. Progress is excellent
with 68 per cent of the actions completed. In 2002, for the first
time since the transition began, GSK manufactured over 100 million
non-CFC MDIs and launched our first non-CFC MDI in the US, CFC-free
Ventolin. Coupled with offering a wide choice of dry powder
devices we are confident in our ability to transition away from
CFCs. We therefore believe that the Montreal Protocol ‘essential-use’
exemption that allows the manufacture of CFCs for salbutamol/albuterol
(the active ingredient in Ventolin) MDIs, and the marketing
of salbutamol/albuterol MDIs containing CFCs, is no longer necessary.
Contaminated land
We are currently studying or actively cleaning up 31 sites that
are classed as contaminated land. We are also remediating a number
of our former manufacturing sites in preparation for their decommissioning
or sale. GSK has spent over £100 million to date and expects
to spend about £30 million on further remediation at existing
sites. When designing and implementing remediation projects, we
work with government agencies and local communities to use the best
technologies available to clean up the land to allow return to other
use such as community parklands.
At most of these sites, land has been contaminated
due to past storage and disposal practices, including poor containment
or accidental releases at commercial disposal sites. The global
standards and systems we now have in place to cover all phases of
waste management are designed to prevent future incidents that could
contaminate land.
ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE
Both GSK’s heritage companies realised the benefit of setting
targets to improve environmental performance. Improvement projects
were started in the 1980s and will continue into the future. The
chart below illustrates the improvements already achieved in air
emissions (VOC), wastewater discharges (COD) and hazardous waste
disposed in the three years leading up to the GSK baseline of 2001.
The most recent performance data against EHS targets
are available on our website 29.
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